In Memoriam
by Redbud-Tree
Summary: When Amy notices something is upsetting Sonic, she decides to find out what it is and help him. This leads to more than she ever expected. Sonamy, with Sonic's past.


**Author's Note:** Okay, here it is - a long time after I promised it, but here nonetheless. Quite possibly extremely OOC, and could have some things (I.E.- Chaos Control) inaccurate, but please, bear with me. Yes, this is SonAmy. Quite obviously so. If anyone dislikes this pairing and/or how I write Sonic and Amy, oh well. I tried. Can't say I'm too pleased with the result, but then, I never am. I always think I could have done better. BTW, the prologue to "Prince of Light" (My epic SEGASonic/Sonic Underground fusion -yes, it's more fusion than corssover now-) is completed, but I've hit a minor roadblock in chapter one. I'm kind of in a dilemma. Do I go ahead and post the prologue, or wait til I can get past my writer's block on chapter one? -sighs- The dilemmas of being a writer. :S

On the plus side, I'm in the process of converting my best friend into a Sonic fan (She's out renting Heroes right now) and so I might be able to get her to write a Sonic fic in the future. She's a really good writer, so if she does it'll be worth readining. Okay, on to business. Oh - any and all typoes are the fault of a rebellious keyboard and/or Microsoft word being stubborn. ;)

**Disclaimer: **Sonic the Hedgehog is not owned by me. ALthough I do own a copy of Sonic 2, Sonic 3 and Knuckles, Sonic CD, Sonic Advance 1, 2 and 3, and Sonic R. Plus I have unlimited access to Sonic the Hedgehog television episodes. But that's about it. I will own a Sonic plushie in the near future, though. And a Mecha Sonic if I can find someone who'll make it cheap enough . . .

* * *

**In Memoriam **

**by Redbud-Tree **

Something was bothering Sonic.

It wasn't obvious; Sonic rarely showed his true feelings, but there were subtle differences in his behavior that his close friends picked up on. His good humor seemed slightly forced, and he was unusually quiet. He'd space out for several seconds, then snap back to awareness and pretend nothing had happened. This behavior had gone on for nearly two days when Amy decided to confront him about it.

She had tried to talk to the blue hedgehog several times already, but each time he neatly avoided her. Not so this time; Amy's plan was foolproof – she'd used it several times before, always to great effect: She let herself get captured by Eggman. Of course, no-one but herself knew about this particular tactic. She knew it was a dangerous plan, but she had the utmost confidence in Sonic's ability to rescue her. He'd done it often enough that it was routine, and while it may make her look weak and helpless, Amy felt it was worth it to gain Sonic's attention, even if only for a short while.

During the time Amy spent waiting for Sonic in her holding cell, which consisted of three solid iron walls and one wall/door made of iron bars, she kept herself entertained by thinking of ways to broach the difficult subject of Sonic's unhappiness.

" 'Sonikku, is everything all right? You seem kind of sad lately' . . . No, that won't work . . . 'Um, Sonikku, is there something bothering you?' That won't work either – he'd just lie and shrug it off. Oh, this is just so _frustrating_! How am I supposed to talk with him about something like this!" Amy grumbled, pulling out her Piko Piko hammer and slamming into the walls of her cell. She did this repeatedly, eventually leaving a large dent in the wall that vaguely resembled the end of her hammer.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Amy turned to the front of her cell, panting slightly from her short workout. During this split second of time, Sonic broke her out and scooped her up into his arms. They were out of the base before Amy could say anything to her rescuer. Needless to say, this did not give her any time to calm down. Instead, her frustration combined with her concern to create a very irritable Amy Rose.

Unfortunately for him, Sonic was completely unaware of this fact. Setting the pink hedgehog down gently, Sonic turned and looked at Eggman's base, rising up in the distance. "That was too easy; Eggman must be running out of ideas or something."

He was entirely unprepared for Amy's outburst.

"_What is wrong with you?_" She scowled, advancing on the hapless blue hedgehog, who started to back away with his hands in the air.

"Whoa, whoa – what are you talking about, Amy? Nothing's wrong with me," Sonic said, keeping a wary eye out for Amy's hammer.

"_Don't lie to me_!" Amy shouted, and then took a deep breath before continuing. "Something's bothering you, Sonikku, and don't you dare deny it because I already know it's true. And you might as well tell me what it is, because I'm not going to leave you alone until I find out."

" . . . You never leave me alone anyway."

"_Sonic . . ._" A sudden explosion from the direction of the base was the only thing that spared Sonic from Amy's wrath. Both hedgehogs turned to see the Tornado engaged in a fierce battle with the fortress, from which smoke was billowing at a large rate. Sonic winced and attempted to run back to Eggman's headquarters, but stopped when he realized that Amy Rose had grabbed his arm in both of her own.

"Amy, let me go! I have to go back there!"

"No," Amy replied, refusing to relinquish her grip on the other hedgehog. "Not until you tell me what's bothering you!"

"Look, this isn't exactly the time –" Sonic winced as another explosion went off in the distance, " – or the place for this. I have to _go_."

"But I want to know why you're so upset lately, Sonikku!"

Sonic sighed, "It's that important to you?"

Amy nodded, still clutching the other's arm, "It's only because I want to help you, Sonikku!"

Sonic laid his ears back and frowned. "It's . . . not exactly something you can help with, Amy . . . Okay, I'll come over to your house later today and tell you, but you have to let me _go_!"

"You promise you'll come? You won't forget?"

Sonic rolled his eyes, but nodded, and Amy let go off his arm. He was out of her sight a few seconds later.

* * *

"He's not coming," Amy moaned to herself as she paced around her kitchen later that afternoon. "Either he forgot or he just doesn't want to talk about it, but there's no way he's coming." She sighed and decided to go find a book or something to read; she'd just have to chase Sonic down tomorrow and get him to tell her then. "He'd better hope I don't catch him, because I won't let him out of my sight again!" 

A sharp knocking on the front door broke into her mental planning, and made Amy jump. The pink hedgehog ran into the living room and threw open the door, resisting the urge to tackle Sonic then and there. Said blue hedgehog stepped inside with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"Sorry I'm late, Amy . . . I had to take care of something of Eggman's."

Amy smiled, brushing aside any lingering irritation she held towards him. "Don't worry about it, Sonikku. I'm just glad you made it!"

"Yeah, well . . . I promised, didn't I? I'm a hedgehog of my word! Now what was it you wanted me to come here for? I sorta forgot."

Amy rolled her eyes. She should have expected this. "You were going to tell me what it is that's had you so upset lately, so that I can help you with it."

"Oh, right," Sonic blinked and stared at Amy for a moment before looking away. "Like I said earlier – you can't really help me with it, Amy."

"Why don't you just tell me what it is and let me be the judge of that," Amy interrupted. Her patience was running thin, and she was bound and determined to help Sonic whether he wanted her assistance or not.

"It's . . . not that easy to explain; maybe . . . maybe it'd be better if I showed you instead," Sonic muttered, almost to himself. Before Amy could ask him what he meant by that, he took her hand, (which secretly sent thrills through the pink hedgehog) and pulled out the orange Chaos Emerald, Chaos Controlling them . . . somewhere.

When the light from the teleport faded, the two hedgehogs were standing in a moderately sized jungle clearing, surrounded by tropical forest. Waves could be heard crashing not far off, and the sound of non-sentient animals echoed from the jungle. Amy blinked and wobbled for a minute before she regained her equilibrium. She just looked around, taking in the scenery, before turning to Sonic.

"Where are we, Sonikku? I don't think I've ever been here before."

"You haven't," Sonic shrugged. "This is Christmas Island."

"Christmas Island? I've never heard of it. Why are we here – I mean, what does this place have to do with you?"

"I was born here," Sonic said, affecting an air of indifference. It was fairly obvious that it was fake, however, and Amy could see that this was something that was a difficult subject for the other hedgehog to talk about.

Still, she couldn't keep from exclaiming in shock, "Here? But I always thought you were from South Island!"

Sonic shrugged again, peering around the deserted clearing almost casually, "I might've let a few reporters think that once, but nah; I just liked to hang out there. It's a pretty cool place."

Amy nodded, confused and concerned all at the same time.

Neither of the two hedgehogs said anything for some time, each lost in their own thoughts. Amy started wandering around the clearing, noticing that there were large, round depressions scattered around in different areas, with occasional piles of wood or stones around their edges. Kneeling down next to one of these, Amy spotted an oddly shaped, shiny white object. Her curiosity aroused, Amy started tugging on it. It slid out of the earth without much difficulty, and revealed itself to be a broken off piece of . . . a bowl?

Amy gasped, and dropped the piece of crockery as if it were hot, her hands shaking.

"_Sonic!"_

He was at her side in an instant. "What's wrong, Amy – oh."

"W-what _is_ this place?" Amy asked, with a trembling voice. "Did someone live here? What happened to them?"

Sonic sighed and sat down next to her. He clearly didn't really want to answer her questions, but would for the sake of his promise to her. He gestured around the clearing, drawing Amy's eyes to the depressions in the ground – all the destroyed homes of those who once lived there, she now realized.

"This is the village where I was born."

"What . . . what happened to it, Sonikku?" Amy asked, somehow knowing the answer would change the way she thought of Sonic forever. For his part, Sonic's eyes darkened and he practically growled out his one-word response.

"_Eggman_."

" . . . Eggman? H-he killed . . . " Amy broke off, eyes wide as Sonic nodded. "Even your parents?"

"No," Sonic shook his head. "Not them. They died not long after I was born. Some kind of sickness, I think. I don't really remember."

"Oh. So, you were raised by an aunt or something?" Amy asked, and then regretted it as Sonic winced. "You don't have to tell me if it bothers you that much, Sonikku," She stated hastily, trying to make up for it. Sonic simply waved off her concern and answered the question.

"I wasn't really "raised" by anybody. There _was _this old lady who took care of me 'til I was about . . . three, I think, and I'd sometimes get to stay the night or get something to eat from one of the other families, but mostly I took care of myself."

Amy was horrified, "What kind of – who could – How _dare _they neglect you like that! You were just a _baby_, Sonikku, they should have -" Sonic stopped her with the most venomous glare he'd ever given her.

"_Don't insult them_, _Amy Rose_. You have no idea what they were like."

Privately, Amy felt she had a very good idea of what these villagers were like, but she kept her mouth shut. Sonic seemed to sense this, as his shoulders slumped and his quills drooped. "This is such a small island, Amy; it wasn't really big enough to feed everyone. All of the families here had kids, and they had to make sure they were all right before they took care of an extra. Besides, I went to South Island a lot – I could get something to eat there if I needed it. None of them would leave this place; they were too scared of crossing the ocean."

The bitterness in the blue hedgehog's voice, though subtle, wasn't hard to pick up on when he had been talking for a while. Amy wanted to hug him, since he looked so despondent, but knew that her usual rib-crushing variety wouldn't be very welcome at the moment. Instead, she settled for taking his hand in hers.

"Sonikku?"

Sonic jumped, surprised by the sound of her voice. He had seemingly been lost in thought.

"Yeah, Amy – what?"

This wouldn't be an easy question for either of them, but Amy knew she had to ask it all the same, "Sonikku . . . what happened . . . the night they died?"

Sonic just looked at her. She returned his gaze and squeezed his hand gently, silently encouraging him to respond. At last, Sonic turned away and started speaking. As he did so, his eyes became distant and glassy; he seemed to be reliving the very events he spoke of.

"It was . . . about a week or so before Eggman attacked South Island, and I think he wanted a place to field test his robots before the main takeover. The lady who lived in this house," he gestured to the depression they were sitting next to, "was having a baby. It was supposed to be her third; she was nice, I spent a lot of time here. I remember sitting right here, just outside her house, waiting for her to have that baby because I'd never seen one before. I wanted to know what they looked like." He paused then smiled hollowly. "She said she'd let me name it, do you believe that? An eight-year-old naming a baby. Anyway, I remember her screaming, and well . . . it scared me because I thought it meant something was wrong."

He seemed embarrassed to admit it, so Amy attempted to put his mind at ease, at least a little bit.

"You would have been what – eight or nine, Sonikku? I'd be scared at that age, too."

Sonic shrugged, and continued, "I'd been there a while when I started hearing a weird noise – I know now it was the first wave of the 'bots – but I didn't really pay any attention to it. I was more worried about what was happening inside the hut behind me . . ."His ears flattened to his skull and his eyes narrowed as he continued, "At least, I was until I heard the other villagers start screaming."

Amy winced as Sonic unconsciously started clenching his fists, and quickly disentangles his hand from her own. That was the moment when she noticed her hero was trembling.

"Sonikku?"

"I should have _done something_! I mean, sure, I didn't know I _could_ do anything, but I should have at least _tried _to save them! But no, I heard the screams, took one look at the bots, and ran away."

"Sonikku, you were just a kid – no-one could possibly blame you –"

"Tails was younger than I was when he started fighting Eggman."

Amy rolled her eyes, "He had _you _to protect him, Sonic! You didn't have _anyone_, so don't blame yourself!"

Sonic gave her a look that plainly said he didn't believe her, and continued, "I didn't go back until the next morning. When I got here, the entire village was gone. All the huts were demolished and everyone was . . . I don't know why Eggman killed them – I don't even know if that's what he meant to do . . . but it doesn't matter. I buried them all in the clearing next to this one, then went to South Island and never looked back. I haven't thought about this place in years; I never let myself."

Suddenly he stood up, and started walking off. Amy quickly stood up to follow him. For once, it wasn't hard to keep up with him; Sonic was walking slowly and thoughtfully, his blue fur tinted nearly violet by the reddish light of the now-setting sun.

"If you never let yourself think about this place, Sonikku, then why is it bothering you so much?" Amy asked as she came up beside her hero. He shrugged in response, but was otherwise silent. Abruptly he turned and left the clearing, walking into the jungle that surrounded it. He motioned for Amy to follow, and she did, wondering where it was that they were going and just why Sonic was walking instead of running.

Her questions were answered a few minutes later when they entered another clearing, obviously the impromptu cemetery Sonic had mentioned earlier. It was bigger than Amy had thought it would be – it was the same size as the clearing they'd just left, and was crowded with graves. There were a few older ones, but the vast majority were all clearly under ten years old, judging by the condition of their markers. Amy gasped; she hadn't quite realized just how many graves there would be.

"Sonikku . . . how many of these did you dig?"

Sonic shrugged, and kept his voice low as he replied, "Thirty-six."

Amy's eyes widened – that was a lot of graves for a very young hedgehog to dig. Then another thought struck her – a thought so disturbing that it sent chills down her spine. She turned and grabbed Sonic, desperation in her eyes. "_Please_ tell me you had a shovel or something! Please say that you didn't have to use your-" She broke off, unable to continue as Sonic shook his head, refusing to look her in the eyes. Slowly, he slipped off his right-hand glove, letting Amy see that it was covered in scars, especially around the ends of his fingers.

At that point, Amy couldn't take anymore and broke down sobbing. _"Oh, Sonikku . . ." _She tackled him and held him in one of her trademark hugs, although an admittedly gentler one that usually. Sonic didn't resist her at all. Instead, much to Amy's surprise, he returned the embrace, closing his eyes and bowing his head as he did so.

They stood like that for a long time.

Eventually, they broke apart. Amy gave a small "Oh" of surprise when she looked up to see tear tracks running down Sonic's face. Instead of commenting, however, she walked back to the edge of the jungle, and plucked some pretty red and white flowers she found growing there. Walking past a confused Sonic, she knelt next to an impossibly tiny grave and started arranging the flowers on top of it.

Sonic blinked, "What are you doing, Ames?" He then blushed, as he hadn't meant to let the private nickname slip. Amy gave no sign she had heard his slip of the tongue, entirely focused on what she was doing.

"I think I know why this has been bothering you so much lately," the pink hedgehog stated, he eyes on the flowers.

"You do?"

"Mmm-hmm," Amy nodded. "Things like this . . . they're not _meant_ to be forgotten, Sonikku. These people need to be remembered, if only to remind us what it would cost if Eggman won, or if we didn't fight, and to remind us of why we put ourselves in danger almost every day. Do you understand what I mean, Sonikku?"

Sonic nodded, and Amy stood up. "They won't be forgotten, right, Sonikku? Promise?" He nodded, and she smiled at him again. This time, he returned it with one of his own, and it was a true smile, not as forced as it had been the past few days.

"Thanks, Ames," he said, walking up behind her, "You really have helped a lot." This time, the nickname was clearly intentional.

"It's not a problem, Sonikku – I like helping you. But, if you don't mind my asking . . . " She trailed off, uncertain.

"Go on, I'm listening," Sonic prompted, stepping a little closer to her.

"Well . . . why did you tell me all of this? You know you didn't really have to – and please don't say it's because I'd never leave you alone otherwise, because that's not the reason and you know it."

"Of course not! I've said it a million times – you _never _leave me alone!" Amy turned around with a rejoinder on her lips, but stopped cold when she saw the other hedgehog's eyes sparkling with laughter.

"That's not nice," Amy complained, but found herself fighting a smile. This was followed shortly thereafter by both hedgehogs cracking up in tension reducing laughter.

When they finally calmed down, Sonic's expression turned serious.

"I don't really know why I told you, Amy, except that I promised you I would. I guess . . . I just needed to talk to someone about this."

"But why _me_, Sonikku? Why not Tails, or Knuckles, or – or . . ."

"I don't know," The blue hedgehog answered, frustrated with his inability to explain. "I guess it's cause I lo-" He stopped and backed away from Amy, blushing furiously. Amy giggled, knowing what he almost said. She poked her face into his until he went cross-eyed looking at her.

"What was _that_ you almost said, Sonikku?"

"Uh – nothing; nothing. You must be hearing things, Amy."

Amy suddenly got a very coy look on her face, a look that scared Sonic more than her hammer ever did.

"Oh, _really_, Sonikku?"

Then she kissed him. Sonic's eyes widened, and he almost – but not quite- pulled away. Amy broke off the kiss fairly quickly and fluttered her eyelashes at him. "You were saying?"

Sonic blinked with an awestruck look on his face, but quickly shook his head and snapped out of it.

"Uh . . . um . . . I – hey, it's dark out. Whattaya say we get out of here?"

"Okay; where should we go?"

Sonic flushed, and thought for a minute. "You wanna get something to eat?"

Amy nodded and hugged him. "Sure! Then we can go to Twinkle Park!"

"Don't push it."

"Aww, _Sonikku . . ._"

"No."

She was still begging as he teleported them away.

**-Fin-**


End file.
